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For visitors from Australia
New Zealand wine country, three hours from home.
Hawke's Bay is New Zealand's oldest wine region, and the easiest long weekend an Australian can take abroad. We meet your flight and drive every kilometre of it.
Australian citizens need no visa and no NZeTA for New Zealand, and pay no visitor levy. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are about three and a half hours from Auckland, and Hawke's Bay is one short domestic connection beyond that. Hosted wine tours cost from $225 NZD per person and a private chauffeur from $240 NZD per hour per vehicle, GST included.
You already know Marlborough and Central Otago. Hawke's Bay is the warm, dry, coastal one, and the closest thing New Zealand has to the Barossa or the Hunter: Syrah and Bordeaux-style reds rather than Sauvignon Blanc, cellar doors ten to twenty minutes apart, and an Art Deco city on the beach.
It is close enough to do properly in three nights, which is the whole point. No visa paperwork, no jet lag worth the name, and the seasons match the ones you left behind.
We hold the Great Wine Capitals Best Of Wine Tourism Award of Excellence, Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices, 2026 and 2027, and Qualmark Silver. We are the preferred provider to Rosewood Cape Kidnappers, Craggy Range, Porters Boutique Hotel and Mangapapa Hotel.
What it costs
New Zealand dollars · GST included · no service charge
- Hosted wine tour, 4 hoursGreat Wine Capital Discovery, per person, party of seven. $540 per person for two$225NZD per person
- Private chauffeur by the hourPer vehicle for up to 7 guests, two hour minimum$240NZD per hour
- Airport to your Napier hotelPrivate transfer on arrival, per vehicle for up to 7 guests$300NZD per vehicle
- Airport to Rosewood Cape KidnappersPrivate transfer on arrival, per vehicle for up to 7 guests$520NZD per vehicle
We publish no Australian dollar figure because exchange rates move daily. Your card issuer converts the New Zealand dollar amount on the day. Every rate and surcharge.
Getting here from Australia
By air. No scheduled international flights land at Hawke's Bay Airport, code NPE, so every Australian visitor connects through a New Zealand gateway. Air New Zealand flies to Hawke's Bay direct from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and the Auckland leg takes approximately 1 hour 5 minutes. The airport sits about ten minutes by road from central Napier.
Same day is comfortable. A morning departure from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane into Auckland or Wellington connects to Hawke's Bay the same afternoon. From Perth, plan on an overnight in the gateway city.
Three nights is the sweet spot. Arrive Friday afternoon, a hosted wine day Saturday, golf or the producers on Sunday, fly out Monday. That itinerary is why the region works as a long weekend rather than a fortnight.
We meet every flight. We track the domestic connection, adjust for delays out of the gateway, and meet you at the arrival gate by name. If the Auckland leg slips, we move with it at no extra charge.
Entry, time and money
Entry. Australian citizens need no visa and no NZeTA, and Australian passport holders pay no International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy. Australian permanent residents travelling on another country's passport normally do need an NZeTA. Check your own position with Immigration New Zealand before you book.
Time. New Zealand runs 2 to 3 hours ahead of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and 4 to 5 hours ahead of Perth, depending on daylight saving in both countries. There is no meaningful jet lag from the east coast, so a Friday evening arrival still leaves you fit for a Saturday tasting. We state every pickup time in New Zealand time.
Money. Our prices are in New Zealand dollars and include GST at 15 percent. We take payment in the vehicle by Visa, Mastercard and American Express, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Card payments carry a 3.5 percent surcharge. Tipping is not expected and we add no service charge, the same as at home.
Do you need a hire car for three nights?
You drive on the left at home, so the road itself holds no surprises. Two things still argue against a hire car on a short trip.
- Someone has to not drink. This is a wine region, New Zealand enforces its limits with regular checkpoints, and the limit is 50mg per 100ml of blood for drivers aged 20 and over. On a tasting day a chauffeur earns the fare before lunch.
- The counter queue costs you an afternoon. On a three night trip, the hour at the rental desk and the hour returning it is a meaningful share of the holiday. Hawke's Bay Airport to Havelock North takes approximately 25 minutes, and the wineries sit ten to twenty minutes apart.
Most of our Australian guests take a chauffeur for the wine and golf days and walk the rest. Napier and Havelock North are both easily walkable.
When to come from Australia
Our seasons are your seasons, which makes planning simple and the peak weeks competitive.
December and January. Peak on both sides of the Tasman. Warm, dry, long evenings, and the window we book out first. Australian school holidays overlap almost exactly, so book early or come either side.
February and March. Harvest, and our own favourite time to show visitors around. Warm days, the crush under way, and the region at work rather than on display.
April and May. Autumn colour in the vines, settled weather, fewer people, and shoulder-season airfares across the Tasman.
June through August. Cool rather than cold, and the quietest time to visit. Cellar doors stay open and you will often have them to yourself. An easy winter weekend that needs no snow gear.
One date to watch: Napier's Art Deco Festival in February fills accommodation across the region, and trans-Tasman fares rise with it. Check the dates before you book.
What there is to do
Familiar grapes, grown somewhere cooler.
Wine
If you drink Barossa Shiraz, Hawke's Bay Syrah is the same grape at a lower temperature: peppery and lifted rather than sweet and broad. Add Bordeaux-style reds from the Gimblett Gravels and Chardonnay from the limestone hills of Te Mata. Wine has been made here since 1851 and this is one of eleven Great Wine Capitals of the world. Our four hosted tours cover all three sub-regions.
Golf
Cape Kidnappers sits on a headland of cliffs above the Pacific, closer to your hotel than most Australian resort courses are to their nearest town. We carry players and clubs, and our covered trailer takes up to 12 sets. See golf transfers.
Art Deco and food
Napier rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake in the architecture of the moment, and the result is one of the most complete Art Deco streetscapes anywhere. Add the growers and makers on the Artisan Producers Tour.
★★★★★
"Excellent service, beautiful clean vehicles, on time and great communication. They have different sized vehicles that can cater to your group size. Will be our first port of call when we head down again."
Bring your itinerary
Planned your trip with AI? Send it to us.
Many of our guests arrive with a day planned in ChatGPT, Gemini or another AI tool. We would be delighted to run it. An AI tool can write the itinerary. It cannot hold a tasting time, confirm a lunch table or know that a cellar door closes early that day.
- We check every stop against real opening hours, tasting times and drive times between venues.
- We make every winery, producer and restaurant reservation on your behalf.
- We return a priced, confirmed day by email, with every time stated in New Zealand time.
- Your vehicle and host stay with you for the whole day.
- From $240 NZD per hour per vehicle, two hour minimum, GST included. Venue costs pass through at cost, with no margin added.
When the day changes
What happens when a day goes sideways.
An itinerary is only a plan. A good day depends on what happens when that plan meets a delayed flight, a closed cellar door or a vehicle that cannot run. We plan for each of those before you arrive.
- A backup vehicle, always. We hold a backup vehicle on every operating day. If a vehicle cannot run, another one collects you.
- Your flight, monitored. We track your flight and start complimentary waiting from actual landing: 30 minutes for a domestic flight and 90 minutes for an international flight.
- A closed venue, replaced. If a venue on a published tour closes on your day, we substitute an equivalent award-winning estate: Black Barn for Craggy Range, Mission Estate for Church Road, and Te Mata Estate or Black Barn for Smith & Sheth, choosing one not already on your route.
- A person on the phone. Our duty number, +64 21 025 87832, answers by call or WhatsApp on the day.
- Vetted, trained hosts. Every host is Police vetted, passes driver safety testing and holds a comprehensive first aid certificate.
- Licensed and insured. Small Passenger Service Licence 0332519, $10 million NZD public liability cover, and Qualmark Silver.
Questions
What Australian visitors ask us.
Do Australians need a visa or an NZeTA to visit New Zealand?
Australian citizens need no visa and no NZeTA, and Australian passport holders pay no International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy. Australian permanent residents who hold another country's passport normally need an NZeTA before travelling. Confirm your own position with Immigration New Zealand.
How do I get to Hawke's Bay from Australia?
Fly into Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch, then connect on Air New Zealand to Hawke's Bay Airport, code NPE. The Auckland leg takes approximately 1 hour 5 minutes. No scheduled international flights land at Hawke's Bay, so every visitor connects through a gateway.
Can I do Hawke's Bay as a long weekend from Australia?
Yes, and most of our Australian guests do. A Friday morning departure from the east coast reaches Hawke's Bay the same afternoon. Three nights covers a hosted wine day, a golf or producers day, and time in Napier, with a Monday flight home.
How far ahead of Australia is New Zealand time?
2 to 3 hours ahead of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and 4 to 5 hours ahead of Perth, depending on daylight saving in both countries. We state every pickup time in New Zealand time.
How much does a private wine tour cost in Hawke's Bay?
Hosted tours cost from $225 NZD per person for a party of seven on the four hour Great Wine Capital Discovery, and $540 NZD per person for a party of two. A private chauffeur for a day you plan yourself costs $240 NZD per hour per vehicle for up to 7 guests, with a two hour minimum. All prices include GST.
Can you collect us from Rosewood Cape Kidnappers?
Yes. We are the preferred provider to Rosewood Cape Kidnappers and we collect from and return to the lodge for transfers, golf and every hosted tour.
How far in advance should we book?
For December and January, as early as you can, because Australian and New Zealand school holidays land in the same weeks. For the rest of the year, two to four weeks is usually comfortable. If your dates are close, ask anyway.
Plan your visit
We would be delighted to arrange your long weekend.
Tell us your dates, your party size and what you like to drink. We are only two to three hours ahead of the east coast, so a message sent in the morning usually has an answer before lunch.